


Rubber Duck Programming

by Womble1



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, Rubber Ducks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28861146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Womble1/pseuds/Womble1
Summary: talking through your problems, the practical edition. Quack
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Rubber Duck Programming

Alan was stuck. His assignment was beating him, it was giving him the academic equivalent of side eye. He stared at the ceiling in despair, then it came to him that maybe he ought to look a little higher for help. 

"John? I'm stuck" 

"physically, metaphorically, emotionally?" came John's slightly distracted reply, as his eyes clearly darted across multiple displays. 

"I can't work out this question."

"Do you want to talk me through what you've done?"

"No" Alan huffed "I want to know what I'm meant to do."

"Alan, chances are you already know, and taking it through could help. Try asking Virgil about rubber ducks"

Alan concluded that his brother had finally gone space mad and ended the call, fat lot of good he had been. Whether it was through boredom, desperation or a sense of brotherly concern for his space case brother was unclear, but Alan stomped off to the hangars regardless in search of Virgil.

"Virg, John's finally flipped, he's chatting about rubber ducks, should I go relieve him up there, do you think Scott would let me?" it dawned on him as he said it that this could get him out of the assignment and thereby solve his problem.

"Care to add a bit more context? Hello to you too!" Virgil was hanging from a harness attached to Thunderbird 2 apparently adjusting something no doubt essential for flight. although don't ask Alan to name it or what it was for, he would swear that Brains and Virgil made up new names for parts on a whim just to mess with him.

"Ah," said Virgil, once he had come down to ground level and listened to Alans retelling of earlier events. "I think he's referring to Mr Quakers" he pointed to a rather dusty yellow duck that was wedged on a shelf above a work bench at the side of the workshop space next to Two.

"Do I need to be concerned about you too? Is this what happens when the stress gets too much? I mean, if you didn't want to help me with my assignment you could just say, stuck on an island, it's fine, I've got plenty of other people I can ask…"

"Were you going to let me finish?" Asked Virgil with a chuckle. "It's something John introduced me to years ago. It's called rubber duck programming. Basically it boils down to using the duck as a sounding board to talk through the issue and it helps order you thoughts. 9 times out of 10 you can work out the answer, and if you don't then you've at least ordered you thoughts enough to explain it to someone else clearly, it's used a lot to problemshoot code." Alan looked unconvinced. "Try it, I'll be your duck, talk me through."

Alan reluctantly talked through what he was stuck on, going round in a few loops while he stumbled across different angles and possible solutions. All the while Virgil let him talk and used the patented head tilt most commonly used by dogs to convey interest, with his arms crossed to stop himself tinkering with any of the components lying around the workbench. Alan seemed to be getting there, but to be honest it was so far out of Virgil's skill set that it didn't mean much to him, he could see why Alan had gone to John first. 

But patience paid off and Alan slowly came to a halt with a promising grin on his face and declared "yeah, I think that will work, don't you?"

Dammit, Virgil came back from his own musings and realised his input was required. "Sounds like it would be worth investigating" yeah, nailed it, wasn't committing to anything but sounded encouraging.

Alan bounded off with a grin and a thanks thrown over his shoulder. Virgil let out a sigh and tried to remember what the hell he had been doing before the blond motormouth had arrived. He would have to have words with John for throwing him that curve ball. Maintaining the knowledgeable big brother facade was hard work when the baby brother was spouting astrophysics at you at a hundred miles an hour.

Over the next week Alan would regularly pop up in Virgil's general area and rattle off another barrage of technical detail. Virgil was slowly putting in less and less effort to look actively engaged in the subject matter. Alan didn't seem to notice, well not until Virgil started quacking each time Alan accosted him. 

"Ok, ok, I get it, speak to the duck first" Alan retaliated by addressing Virgil as "Oi Ducky" to get his attention from then on.

When this back and forth display was played out in front of him in the lounge, Scott raised a questioning eyebrow at his brother who appeared to now be going by the name Ducky. "Care to tell me what that was about?" He asked when his eyebrow only got a shrug in response.

"Ask John about his rubber ducks" was the only reply he got from Virgil. John must have been listening in as he answered the call with a convincing impression of a mallard and a side glare at Virgil. It turned out Alan had not been limiting his questioning to only earth bound ducks.


End file.
